


Mr Afton's Circus

by ThePrincePeach



Category: Five Nights at Freddy's
Genre: Angst, Child Neglect, Childhood, Childhood Memories, Childhood Trauma, Dark Past, One Shot, Origin Story, Other, Past Abuse, Past Character Death, Past Child Abuse, Past Relationship(s)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-02
Updated: 2020-07-02
Packaged: 2021-03-05 04:07:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,220
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25028227
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThePrincePeach/pseuds/ThePrincePeach
Summary: Even people like William Afton had a childhood.
Relationships: William Afton | Dave Miller/Mrs. Afton
Comments: 5
Kudos: 25





	Mr Afton's Circus

**Author's Note:**

> Hey! This is just a little two chapter oneshot I had in mind to talk about William's past and childhood! This is my AU and thus my AU of William and the other characters, so please don't hate for some things not sticking 100% canon! Thanks! 
> 
> Also, all the tagging is for people who black list the tags! Just in case! This first chapter is pretty safe, but the second chapter gets angsty.

Henry came running in like the Devil was after him, a videotape clutched tightly in his strong hand that he lifted above his head the moment he stepped through the glass double doors. With an excited boom in his voice, and a smile to top it off, he called out to his evening shift employees, 

“I have something to show you all. Where’s Noel?” 

Mike, who was sitting at the toy counter, curiously shot a look to Paul and Jeremy who stood with him and gave him an equally curious look back. Michael, leaning against Mike, stared at Henry with a surprised expression. When all eyes turned back to Henry, the man’s grin grew, and he shook the tape for emphasis. 

“Break room, five minutes. And someone find Noel!” 

…

“What’s all the hubba, bubba?” Jeremy asked with a laugh as he shuffled into the break room, watching the other man wheel over the television stand and hurriedly plug it in. “I ain’t never seen ya’ so excited!” 

“Yeah! What gives, Mr Emily?” Mike hummed as he plopped down in a seemingly random chair, scooting the chair across from him out with his shoe so Jeremy could sit. Michael silently sat next to him. Paul had his arm under Noel’s as he helped the older man shuffle into the break room, Noel smiling to Henry. 

“Ah, Henry, it’s been a while, my dearest,” Noel chuckled as Paul helped him sit down in a different chair. The man patted Paul on the arm in appreciation and gave him a warm smile, “I’m alright, I’m alright,” he assured the younger man. Paul nodded and sat next to him. “Henry, your commotions are always the most exciting here. I’m sure you have a good reason to pull us into such a meeting.”

“If it’s another ad for some party deal here…” Mike muttered before folding his arms across the table. “They always look fine, you don’t need a group vote every time.” Jeremy snickered at the comment and Michael, smiling, rolled his eyes. 

Henry fumbled with the videotape, perking up with the device finally sucked it in. He waved his hand behind him and instructed, “Someone get the lights.” 

“I got it,” Jeremy smiled and leaned back, reaching over with his cane to flip the switch. The break room went dark, the bright blue beam of life gave Henry an unearthly glow as he fiddled with the buttons, the familiar white text blinking and chattering away. Henry stepped back with the remote in hand, then turned to go and lean against a nearby table. The screen flickered a few times before an old recording began. It was a newscast, a man in a nice suit giving a bright smile to the camera across from him, papers in his hands. 

The screen was in black and white. The man spoke with a cool, confident voice,

“Tonight we have a W34 KG special, folks! Summer is back and you know what that means!” A visual popped up beside his head, showing off a silhouette of a circus tent and ferris wheel with balloons floating nearby. “That’s right! The renown Babes’ Big Top returns for another round of family fun! And here tonight, to give you all a special taste at home what Babes’ is offering – we invited a very special guest to the station tonight to perform some of his act!” The camera turned suddenly to a young man standing on a tight rope suspended between two small, round platforms, the rope no higher than a foot or two from the ground. The newsman continued, “Welcome, Birdie! How are you doing tonight, son?” 

‘Birdie’ was tall, and slender, with a painted-on grin and stars surrounding his eyes that ran back to his temples and cheekbones, and a painted dot at the end of his nose to make it look rather cute. His hair was pulled back with a large bow behind his head, what appeared to be bells on the bow. With tight shorts ending just midway down his thighs, a long-sleeved, striped shirt, seemingly white tights, and dark coloured flats with bands around the tops of his feet and around the ankles. He wore a vest that was closed off with two large, star-shaped buttons over the shirt. There was a puffball on the toe of each shoe, with another bell on both. A clown. Something was familiar about the clown, Henry could see it on the faces of his night shift as they watched in curious silence. 

Music began to softly play on the screen.

The clown moved in a poised and skilful manner to step to a platform, giving a thankful nod to the crewman who gave him a unicycle, setting the wheel on the wire as the audience clapped excitedly. He, of course, gave the invisible crowd a gracious bow before standing back up. Birdie grinned, it looked happy, it looked proud. He bent himself backwards at an uneasy angle, planting both hands on the seat of the unicycle. His balance was shockingly kept as the youth pulled his legs and torso upwards, legs hanging behind him as he was still bent in a curve that looked unreal. Ah, a clown and a contortionist. His act was surprisingly elegant and dreamlike, bending and balancing with ease, occasionally giving a playful jingle with the bells on his shoes to get a laugh from the audience, grinning almost the entire time. 

At one point, he raised himself to stand on the unicycle seat, one leg tucked at an angle to rest his sole against his inner thigh. The crewman returned to offer him a trio of different coloured balls. Again, Birdie nodded to him and playfully stole the man's hat to drop atop his own head. The man laughed but let it be as the clown began to juggle. 

Henry stopped the tape and rose to his feet, gesturing to the screen. 

“I did some research on this kid, his name is ‘Birdie Billy’ and he played in this circus for nearly six years,” Henry excitedly explained, “He was a contortionist and an acrobat for this circus, and was one of the ring leader’s son. Do any of you recognize him?” He watched as his workers exchange looks. Noel, smiling, chimed in, 

“Oh yes! I’ve heard of the Babes’ Big Top!” He laughed. “I went there for a show with my sweetheart when they played in the state. I saw Birdie perform once. Limber lil’ guy!”

“Do you recognize him, though?” Henry repeated, gesturing to the television screen. Noel squinted slightly through his glasses at the screen. Before he could reply, Michael rose his hand. 

“He, he looks like…” He started, Henry eagerly egging him on, “he looks like my dad.” The room went quiet. Noel perked up. 

“He does,” he agreed in a whisper, “my! He looks just like—” 

The lights clicked on. The room flinched and some covered their eyes. Henry blinked a few times before looking to the light switch, then to the man standing in the doorway. William Afton stared straight at the television with an expression that somehow mixed shock and anger and embarrassment, with wide eyes and red cheeks, body tense as he just stared at the screen. With anger in his steps, he rushed to Henry and snatched the remote from his hand, clicking the television off as quickly as he could. He shook his head as he worked on removing the tape from the player. 

“William! You were--?” Noel began, only to be hushed by the hateful glare the man sent towards him almost immediately. 

“No fucking way,” Mike mumbled, suddenly standing up with his hands planted on the tabletop, “Mr Afton? You were a clown?!” William tensed up again and turned his glare to the youth. 

“I was not a clown!” He snapped, only to stop himself and shake his head again, looking back at the player. “How do you get this bloody thing out? Henry, get this out, now. You’re not, not paid to sit around and watch TV all night! So don’t just sit there!” He was fumbling. He was frantic. Henry had a cheeky grin as he took a step back to allow the man to get the tape out. 

“Oh no, no I think you got it, Birdie.” Henry chuckled. William froze up and stared at the player in stunned silence, before turning his gaze to Henry – who simply smirked at him with his arms folded across his chest. William was suddenly very aware of all the eyes on him but did not dare turn back to stare back. Instead, he managed to get the VHS tape out – the film still partially caught in the machine. Without caring, William simply yanked the tape and film apart, coils of shiny black falling around his hand and arm and onto the floor. 

“You have no fuckin’ right showing this to people, Henry. Where the hell did you even find it?!” He nearly growled out. In such a heat of anger, he dropped the tape down to the floor and slammed his heel into it to watch the black plastic shatter across the floor. When he decided it was broken enough, he sent a sweeping glare across the room to his workers and son and jabbed his finger to the doorway. “Out! Now!” The group was eager to disperse, nearly scrambling to get out of the break room and back into the hallway and the empty main room. When the room was empty, he yelled, “How could you?! What the fuck is wrong with you?! Where did you find this, huh? Did that bitch give it to you?!” 

“William, William, relax,” He chuckled as he raised his hands in mock defence, “It was the anniversary of the Big Top and they showed the clip to celebrate some of the former performers. They showed a lot of your acts!” 

“Do you really think I want to hear that?!” 

“Well, you asked where I found it, so—” 

William threw his arms up in rage and then planted his hands on his hips, “You have NO right to share this with people! I, I can’t even fuckin’ look at you right now, I’m so pissed off! Why would you show this to everyone? To anyone?! Oh, hold on—” He looked back at the doorway and shrilly shouted, “I SAID BACK TO FUCKING WORK!” Footsteps scrambled away from the doorway and he sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “I just, I, why? Henry? Why? Why would you embarrass me like this?” 

“I think the costume was cute,” Henry smiled as he sat on the corner of a table, his arms still across his chest, “I liked your acts.” 

“Yeah? Good for you. Forget this ever happened or I will poison your coffee with bleach and watch you choke on your melted tongue.” He turned to walk to the doorway and Henry just smiled. 

“You ever gonna’ tell me what happened with it?” 

William paused, Henry continued, 

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you smile like that, William. You looked so… Happy.” 

“Face paint does wonders,” William mumbled softly. 

“No no, that was a real smile from you. That was a grin. You were watching from the doorway, I saw you watching. You purposely stopped us from watching any further.” Henry waved his hand dismissively, “Someone could think that… Perhaps… You wanted people to see your act?” Silence from the other, Henry hummed, “Or wanted to see it for yourself?” More silence. Henry looked over at him to see William staring back at him, eyes glancing to the floor in thought as they scanned over the tile and broken pieces of the tape. “I like that smile from you, it was nice.” William looked back up at him to see Henry rising to his feet, looking down at the mess of broken tape and film. “But, I’ll drop it if that’s what you really want, William.” 

“Come to my place, tonight, eight o’clock sharp. I’ll… I’ll explain,” The other sighed finally, rubbing the back of his neck. “But you will vow to me that you will never, EVER, tell a single soul about this.” 

“I promise.” 

“No. Vow to me.” 

“Does it really make a difference?” 

“Henry.” 

“Fine, fine. I vow I will not tell anyone.” 

William nodded after a moment and looked back at the doorway. He was silent as he left the breakroom. Of course, William took note of how everyone seemed to avoid him, and his gaze, as he walked past them. Henry leaned against the wall as he watched the other man walk off, barely noticing Michael and Mike peeking out from the office doorway. 

“Are… Are you actually coming over tonight, Henry?” Michael asked in a quiet tone, staring at the man with a frown, “He didn’t sound too happy.” 

“Yeah,” Henry chuckled as he looked back at the teens, “You should stay with Mike tonight, kid, I don’t know what he’s planning and I don’t want you in the crossfires. That okay, Mike?” The teen nodded quickly, Henry smiled and looked back to where William stormed off – hearing the distinct slam of his office door. Michael and Mike ducked back into the office and Henry chuckled once more, 

“This should be interesting.”


End file.
